Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I just wanted to post a huge shout-out to my long time best friend, Joe Larson. He's a comedian living in NYC now, and he just headlined Caroline's on Broadway last night. It's a huge deal! I'm so incredibly proud of him and how far he has come with comedy. :)

Sunday, July 25, 2010

I took a complete vacation from a computer while I was on the East Coast. It felt great! Now I'm back!

In years past, this race was called Osterville Run for the Library, and it was an odd length--coming in at about 4.1 miles. This year, the officials changed the course to be a certified 5K and the name is now the Cape Cod Championship 5K. It was kind of a bummer that the course was shortened, because it misses a lot of cool sights in the village. Coach Fish wasn't too thrilled about it either, but he was going to run it! This was my first road race back when I was 11, and I ran it again when I was 15...so it's been a while since I've participated!

But, under the circumstances, I wasn't all out racing. Goober. Yup, that's right. However, Coach Fish was making his racing comeback! Woo hoo!

The temp was supposed to be in the low 90s for the day, and the humidity was around 85-90%. That combo just screams "yuck!" Even at the early start of 8am, it was already in the 80s and the humidity was covering us in ick already. Coach Fish and I walked over to the start from the house at around 7 to pick up our bibs and shirts. It was really funny because all these people were like "Doug! You're running??" and "Doug's racing!" There was no chip timing because it's still a teeny race (but I have a feeling that will change now). The race shirt was AWESOME and it's made for a woman. Well, there was an option for a dude's shirt, too. ;)

We got back to the house and I ate a little bit of breakfast, but soon it was time to go back to the start line. Coach Fish and I decided to do a little warm-up and jog the half mile. Holy cow, I was so stiff. I hadn't run for 4 days and I could tell. It was a jumbled scramble of people lingering around the start area in front of the old school. First was the kids' race, which was very cute, and everyone was clapping/cheering. :)

Quick picture! The typical "Doug" face. :)

Crowded/small start area

I got a couple of double-takes when it came to my little belly while waiting for the starting horn. Then we were off, and it was HOT! I was feeling good, since I just love this place and was enjoying every second of it. I neared the area where both my little sisters were cheering, and they had my inhaler waiting (thank goodness!). B passed me the inhaler while Liza took pictures. Thanks sisters! It was great to have them there. :)

Here's the pic they got of Coach Fish as he passed...he made a great face.

The heat was getting to me a little, but I was keeping a strong pace. At one point Gus said I was going 8:30. Um, slow down! I briefly walked at a water stop to take a sip, but other than that, I ran the entire way. There were these little bitty hills and I was passing people who had slowed to a walk on them. It's kind of funny, but those are hills to some people, but not to me (Washington is hilly!). I saw my Grandparents' family friend near the finish and waved to her...she saw me and cheered (she's around 80 and a fun woman). My usual kick to the finish was short-lived, as I was in dire need of some cold water. But I managed to beat my goal time of 30 minutes! Woot!

My sisters and Coach Fish met me at the end and we sat in the shade to wait for the results to be announced. The spread was pretty good for a little race! There were muffins, soda, water, watermelon and oranges...I downed a bottle of water and got some Sprite for a little sugar. Even 20 minutes after finishing, I was still dripping sweat. It was very icky.

The officials announced the age group and overall winners after a little while, and Coach Fish came in 3rd in his age group! Hurray! I'm so proud. I started feeling a little lightheaded/dizzy and decided to sit down for a bit while the rest of the results were being announced. The humidity was getting to me and we soon walked back to the house to shower and get ready to go back to the village for more Village Day activities.

Coach Fish's medal

My Final Stats:

Mileage - 3.1

Time - 29:14

Overall - 176 out of 342
Division Place - 13 out of 24 (F20-29)
Sex Place - 68 out of 183

Pace - 9:25

Coach Fish's Final Stats:

Mileage - 3.1

Time - 20:58

Overall - 38 out of 342
Division Place - 3 out of 25 (M50-59)
Sex Place - 32 out of 158

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Butter and the Dragon, of course. These flies are nicer and don't go the kamakaze in-my-eye route.

So, my runs on Sunday and yesterday both were accompanied by some really pretty 'flies. I swear the same large Blue dragonfly was pacing me on my 3 miler, and then he got distracted by this stunning black & white butterfly and ditched me. Come on, dude. Bro's before ho's right? But in all honesty, it was neat running with a dragonfly for a good 1/2 mile. I thought for sure he'd get tired of my slow/steady pace and just leave me, but he was a good little bug. If only I had snapped a pic of him...

Then yesterday I saw a red dragonfly and thought it was Blue's hottie older sister. Turns out she was, and had no interest in running with her little bro's prego human pal. Geez. Older sisters. ;)

Tomorrow I leave for the gorgeous East Coast and I seriously CAN'T contain my excitement!!! I have a race on Saturday that is the exact same race I first ran back when I was 11 with my Uncle Doug. This time though, I'm going to be slower and Uncle Doug is going to actually race it. Woo hoo! Go Coach Fish!!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

There's a really really cheap 5K here in my good 'ol city ($10!) on Saturday, and I wanted to run it last year. This year, not so much going to place like I'd hope, but it's still a chance to race. Yes, I love bib numbers! Problem is, I'm still having weird ligament issues. I tried jogging really slowly on my treadmill after about a 6 minute walking warm-up...not too bad actually. You know what part of the culprit is? Flip-flops. When I don't wear them, I don't feel as much pain. GAH! And it's summer!

Friday, July 2, 2010

My Compression Cat has been working overtime. I tried going for a run on Wednesday and felt pretty good for the first two miles...then the lovely "round ligament" pain hit me full force and I had to walk the mile back home. Crappity crap crap. So, I'm taking it super easy and seeing if some rest will help.

Speaking of recovery...you know how I got the RunningSkirts.com RunLove Swift Sox at the Seattle RnR expo? Can I just say that they are incredible? I mean, they seriously made my legs feel like it was just "any other day" instead of having just run 13.1 miles.

Weird angle. My calves look ginormous!

It was a little struggle to get these babies up my tired legs, but once they were on, ahhhhhhhh--a little calf hug. :) Plus, I love the hot pink color and heart logo (but the heart was stretched to the extreme and almost looked like a rectangle after my half marathon).